Wind River, the Intel-owned specialist in IoT (Internet of Things) software, has announced a platform that will allow ageing control systems, not originally designed to support the IoT, to link into IoT networks.

Called Titanium Control, the platform is designed to “virtualise” traditional control systems. Because these systems were not designed to support IoT, most are rigid and single-purpose, and are costly to deploy, integrate and maintain. Titanium Control, based on open-source software such as Linux, is a cloud infrastructure that virtualises real-time automation applications – something that, until recently, could be implemented only in embedded systems hardware.

According to Wind Driver’s president, Jim Douglas, the new platform is already being used in trials in industries including manufacturing, energy and healthcare. “With the addition of Titanium Control to our product portfolio,” he says, “Wind River is driving a new industrial era through virtualisation, real-time performance and edge-to-cloud connectivity”.

IoT software can connect edge equipment (1) or virtualise and converge operational and business systems (2).